This is the workstream for those interested in the impact that our economies have on the real world in which they sit with a focus on what changes we need to make to ensure our economies are sustainable for the rest of the 21st century.

Why Sustainability?

There is international recognition that environmental issues such as climate change, plastic, environmental degradation and biodiversity losses; and social issues such as poverty, inequality and gender equality contain the potential to radically alter and in most cases reduce economic activity if they are not managed sustainably. Many of these issues are codified in the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which are inextricably linked.

But what is sustainability? Are we talking about environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, social sustainability, financial sustainability? What do these terms mean and is a common definition of sustainability available which can be applied to all circumstances? The projects in this workstream will move us towards a better understanding of these matters.

Exploring the UN SDGs

We consider the UN SDGs to be the best starting point for this workstream as they reflect an international policy consensus on outcome measures that must be achieved for development to have occurred sustainably. Our view is that, where they are relevant, all UN SDGs should be considered including their interdependencies. However since none of the SDGs are achievable on a planet with average temperatures at 3 degrees or more above pre-industrial levels, Goal 13 (Climate Action) needs to be given particular attention whilst recognising that social issues such as poverty and inequality are not only exacerbated by the consequences of climate change but could be worsened by a transition which does not also tackle these structural issues. This in turn would potentially undermine our ability to gain the societal traction required to deliver decarbonisation.

Exploring the Economics of the Green New Deal

We will explore the economics underlying transformational programmes such as the Green New Deal, aiming to understand the economic theory and techniques which are relevant to the challenge of climate change and the limitations of current dominant economic views when faced with this issue. We will examine the impact of this shift in thinking on actuarial practice, identifying what this mean for actuaries as users of economic models and advisors on long term economic risks. We would expect this to link to the work of many of the other workstreams, for example:

· How do we pay for it? (links in with the Understanding money and debt workstream)
· What it means for investment – by government and the private sector (links in with the Thinking needed around long term investment returns work stream)
· What does it mean for economic resilience? Looking at supply chains etc (links in with the COVID-19 Actuaries Response work stream)
· New metrics needed for measuring economic success (Alternative metrics for the economy workstream)

This will be just the first of many topics considered around sustainability economics – you will be able to influence the prioritisation of which topics we do consider by joining the discussions within this workstream – and we intend to produce briefing notes and webinar presentations on specific topics as our work progresses.

Experience of working with business partners to ask the right questions will be crucial in managing our way through the many uncertainties which lie ahead. And by pursuing solutions within Sustainable Economics, we will also be addressing all of the principles of the Economics MIG.

There is a lot to do. We hope you can join us!

Courses

A useful EdX MOOC on the science of climate change can be found at: https://www.edx.org/course/climate-change-the-science-2

Videos

Ann Pettifor making the case for the Green New Deal: http://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/events/the-case-for-the-green-new-deal/

Vox – Green New Deal, explained

Stephanie Kelton

Monetary Finance in the Age of Corona Virus: MMT and the Green New Deal

(Particularly Randall Wray at 1.32 and Stephanie Kelton at 1.47).

Books

Ann Pettifor – The Case for the Green New Deal (2019) Verso Books
Callenbach, Ernest (1975) Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston. Berkeley, CA: Banyan Tree Books
The Common Home Plan, edited by Robin McAlpine, Craig Dalzell and Edmond Venabales, Common Weal
Our Final Warning (2020) Mark Lynas, 4th Estate

Papers/Articles

Climate Change and Resource Depletion: The Challenges for Actuaries. Review of Literature (2010) https://collaborate.actuaries.org.uk/w/pdf/view/5e4bbbedc5024f51bce87632/latest

Climate Change and Resource Depletion: The Challenges for Actuaries. Review of Literature (2011) https://collaborate.actuaries.org.uk/w/pdf/view/5e4bbbedc5024f51bee87602/latest

Health in climate change research from 1990 to 2014: positive trend, but still underperforming (2016) Glenn Verner,Stefanie Schütte,Juliane Knop,Osman Sankoh &Rainer Sauerborn https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/gha.v9.30723

Explanation of Ocasio-Cortez version of Green New Deal in US https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/climate/green-new-deal-questions-answers.html

University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). (2015, July; updated 2017, November). Rewiring the Economy: Ten tasks, ten years. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership – https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/resources/low-carbon-transformation-publications/rewiring-the-economy-ten-tasks-ten-years

Independent panel report to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding May 2019 – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/805127/Review_of_post_18_education_and_funding.pdf

Allan, J., Donovan, C., Ekins, P., Gambhir, A., Hepburn, C., Robins, N., Reay, D., Shuckburgh E., and Zenghelis, D. (2020). A net-zero emissions economic recovery from COVID-19. Smith School Working Paper 20-01 – https://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/publications/wpapers/workingpaper20-01.pdf

Employer Skills Survey 2017, Department for Education, August 2018 – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-skills-survey-2017-uk-report

Reducing UK emissions Progress Report to Parliament, Committee on Climate Change, June 2020 – https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/reducing-uk-emissions-2020-progress-report-to-parliament/

UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD), Measuring up – How the UK is performing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals – https://www.ukssd.co.uk/measuringup

UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) Evidence Report and supporting material – https://www.ukclimaterisk.org/

University of Leicester mapping against UN Sustainable Development Goals – https://le.ac.uk/about/sdgs

Organisations

Green New Deal Group – https://greennewdealgroup.org/

Common Weal – Green New Deal and other ideas for an independent Scotland. Particularly like their strapline: “Overview – The world is miserable. We’re not. We’ve got a plan.”

https://commonweal.scot/big-ideas/green-new-deal-scotland

Centre for Alternative Technology – https://www.cat.org.uk/info-resources/

Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership – Rewiring the Economy, Ten Tasks, Ten Years https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/about/rewiring-the-economy

Nick Silver – https://radixuk.org